Machine for manufacturing hair pads



1 1945- A. M. SMITH ET AL MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING HAIR PADS Filed May 20, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet l ,dmaz.

April 9, 1946.

MACHINE A. M. SMITH ET AL 2,398,163

FOR MANUFACTURING HAIR PADS Filed May 20, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I l I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I April 9, 1946. A. M. SMITH ET AL 2,398,163

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING HA-IR PADS Filed May 20, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 April 1946- A. M. SMITH ET AL 2,398,163

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING HAIR PADS Filed May 20, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 attendant to feed the pads to the machine.

Patented Apr. 9, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING HAIR PADS Application May 20, 1942, Serial No. 443,780

19 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for making upholstery pads, and more particularly to a machine for dipping fibrous hair mats or the like through a liquid coating composition such as latex, and then draining and drying the dipped pads.

In the manufacture of upholstery materials where fibrous mats are coated with latex or rubber compositions, it has in the past been the practice to place the mats formed of hair or other but results in large losses of the latex or coating material since the latex dries and congeals on the screen and this congealed materia1 then has to be removed as waste. Also, it is cumbersome and expensive to maintain the screens in clean condition suitable for use.

An object of the present invention is to provide a machine through which the pads to be treated may be passed in continuous fashion and which will perform the steps of dipping, draining and drying the pads in an eflicient and uniform manner. A further object is to provide special conveyor means on which the dipped pads may be passed and which will prevent wastage of the coating material but which at the same time will permit draining of excess liquid from the pads. Another object of the invention is to provide mechanism for dipping and passing the pads onto the conveyor without attention frompan having its edges secured in any suitable way an attendant, it being necessary only for the Yet another object of the invention is to provide means in connection with the conveyor for drying the pads as they pass along, a means for automatically turning the pads as they pass along, and also means for drying the side of the pads which is freshly turned up.

Still another object is to provide forming means at the rear of the machine which is capable of automatically shaping the coated pads as they leave the machine. Other objects and advantages will be apparent as the specification proceeds.

A preferred embodiment of our machine is illustrated in th accompanying drawings in which:

After 15 Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation and showing pads in the course of their travel through the machine;

Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional view taken as indicated at line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view taken as indicated at line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a broken view 01' the rear end of the machine taken as seen at line 5-5 of Fig. 1, and showing the forming mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a detailed view of the pad turning mechanism taken as seen at line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a detailed sectional view taken as seen at line 1-1 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a detailed view of a part of the driving mechanism as seen from line 8-8 of Fig. 1.

As illustrated, the machine is supported on the standards I0 and has the side rails II and I2 which extend in spaced parallel relation th whole length of the machine.

Carried on rails H and I2 is a series of rolls generally designated by the character l3 which rolls extend transversely of the rails and form the principal part of the conveyor system. These rolls are cylindrical in form and preferably quite closely spaced so that the pads may roll along easily on the top surfaces of th rolls as indicated in Fig. 2. As more clearly shown in Fig. 4, these rolls have central rods which are journaled at their ends in bearings 9| secured on rail II and at their other ends in bearings 92 secured on rail l2.

At the fore end of the machine is the means for immersing the pads and guiding them on to the conveyor. The receptacle I1 is mounted between the rails II and I2 and is adapted to hold the liquid material with which the pads are to be coated. This receptacle may be in the form of a to the side rails. 'As will be seen more clearly from Figures 2 and 3, the receptacle H has at its forward portion an inclined bottom-l8, and is depressed at I9 to permit housing of the rolls 20 which are mounted in inclined fashion and for the purpose of guiding or propelling the immersed pads onto the rolls I3.

A feed roll I4 is carried on rails II and I2 and cooperates with the bottom l8 to feed the pads in a continuous motion through the coating liquid. Roll I4 is preferably in the form of a cage having the slats l5 which form the outer surface of the roll. The axial rods Ila, of this feed roll are journaled in suitable bearings in rails l I and I2.

As is seen more clearly in Figure 3, the lower surface of roll it is spaced from the inclined bottom I. by a distance which is slightly less than the normal thickness of the pads so that as the feed roll is rotated in the direction of arrows 19, the pads passing between the feed roll and the inclined bottom will be positively propelled without slippage.

The rolls 2. may be mounted by having their axial rods 20a jo'urnaled in liquid-tight hearings in the side of receptacle ll. These rolls are so positioned as to receive the pads from beneath the feed roll it and pass them onwardly and upwardly onto the rolls ii. If desired, all of rolls 2| may be of the cage type having transverse slats forming their exterior surfaces.

Mounted by the side rails H and i2 and below the rolls I3 is a pan or trough system 2| which in the illustrated embodiment comprises nine sections designated 24 to I2 inclusive which are separated by partitions 22 and each of which is provided with a valved outlet 23. The whole of the pan section 2| is adapted to carry liquid therein to a level sufliciently high to contact the lower edges of the rolls i2 so as to wet the rolls. The section 24 has the partition 22 between it and the dipping receptacle H at such a height that excess liquid in the section 24 will drain over the partition into the dipping receptacle. Any other suitable overflow device could of course be used to accomplish this purpose. Similarly, the partitions between sections 24 and 25 and also between 25 and 26 may be so adjusted as to permit passage of surplus liquid back towards the dripping end. In fact the receptacle ll may itself be considered a section of that part of the system which takes care of the liquid presented for coating the pads.

Since the drainage of excess liquid will be substantially accomplished as the pads travel along the first part of the conveyor, the latter sections of the trough system need not be connected for the drainage back to the dripping receptacle, but instead may be filled with any liquids suitable for wetting the rollers which pass over them. Where latex is the coating liquid, it is advantageous to have the sections 21 to 32 filled with an aqueous ammonia solution. The ammonia solution then coats the rolls and prevents coagulation of latex on them. The valved outlets 23 are used when it is necessary to withdraw the liquid from any section as for cleaning the machine or for replacement of the fluid. It is expected, of course, that the length and number of the sections 24 to 32 may be varied as desired.

When the desired pads have proceeded along the conveyor and have drained to a suitable extent, there is provision for directing a warm air current against them. Referring particularly to Figures 1 and 2, the illustrated machine includes a casing 34 in which is located a fan 35. This fan is actuated through appropriate power connection by the motor 30, and operates to draw air through inlet 31 and direct it upwardly across the radiator 30. This radiator is connected with inlet and outlet steam pipes 39 and 40 and serves to heat the air being passed across it. The air passing from radiator II in heated condition dlvides and a part passes through conduit ll while the remainder passes through conduit l2.

The warm air directed through conduit H is discharged through the hood 43 directly against the uppermost surface of the pads passing along the conveyor at that point. For convenience the position of the hood l3 along the conveyor will be designated as the first" position. The

pads, passing from beneath hood 0 are conveyed a further distance and are inverted by a mechanism later to be described at a position which we designate the "second" position, and the inverted pads pass under the hood 4 which'is connected with the conduit 42 and through it heated air is directed against the upper side of the inverted pads.

Screw standards 45 rest on rails II and I2 and support the hoods. By turning these standards the hoods may be adjusted to accommodate pads of various thicknesses.

The mechanism for turning the pads at the second position includes a rack N which is formed of a transverse rod 41 from which proiect the spaced arms 48. This rack when in normal position has its surface preferably slightly below the top surface of the rolls l2, and to accommodate the arms N, the rolls Ila are provided with grooves 49 into which the arms may extend. axcept for these grooves, the rolls "a may be the same as any of the other rolls It. It is, of course, expected that the arms ll may be of any desired length depending on the size of the pads being treated, and there may be a corresponding number of rolls "a for accommodating the rods.

The end portions of rod 41 are journaled in bearings Ill secured on rails Ii and I2, and at one end this rod is provided with an arm Ii (see Figure 6). The end of arm II is pivotally connected to the rod 52 which is in turn pivotally connected to the arm I: which is connected to the shaft of the gear mechanism 54 driven by the electric motor 55. Motor ll is controlled by photoelectric cell 58 which at the interruption of the beam from light source 51 is adapted to cause operation of the motor to turn the arm I through one complete revolution.

At the far end of the conveyor is the mechanismjll for forming and shaping the pads which then have their coatings congealed and substantially dried. This mechanism includes a pair of rolls including the lower roll II and an upper roll 62. These rolls-are mounted for rotation in the frame 63 carried on the side rails II and I2. The mounting of rolls 6! and 2 in frame It is such that springs, not shown, and controlled by the screw members 84, urge these rollers together so that the pads moving between them will force the rollers apart only against the tension of these springs. Leading toward the rolls 8i and 82 are the guide members I! and II. As the pads approach the rolls they are guided inwardly by the guides I and and as they pass between these rolls their thickness is made substantially uniform.. In addition the roll 82 is here provided with disks I! which serve to crimp the edge of the pad and give it an edge line. Should this line not be desired, the disks I! may be omitted from the roll.

Preferably, the rolls II, the dipping mechanism including feed roll H and rolls 2|, and the forming mechanism 6|, are actuated through the same drive system. The motor 30, which in this embodiment also operates the fan 35, is connected through suitable gearing for driving the chain ll which is en aged about the sprocket wheel 60 attached to the rod II which is adapted to rotate and which is mounted by the brackets H attached to rail H. The beveled gears 12, 13, II. and 15 actuated by the rod ll drive the end pinions of the rolls lib, llc, lid, and lie, respectively, and these rolls are in drive connection with the other rolls ll through the sprockets 18 on the respective end pinions. and also the chains 80, ti and 82.

Ihe roll l3 driven through chain 80, is equipped at its pinion with a second sprocket 13 which drives corresponding sprockets on rolls l4 and 20 through chain 83 as shown more clearly in Figure 8 of the drawings.

Similarly the roll He is equipped at its spindle with a second sprocket 84 which drives corresponding sprockets on the roll 6| through chain 85. Roll 62 is driven along with roll 6 I by reason of the cog connection at 86.

When the machine is in use the receptacle I1 is kept filled with the coating liquid 18 and additional liquid is introduced through the line H and is preferably regulated by the valve 11a so that the liquid is constantly supplied at the same rate as it is used in coating the fibrous pads.

In the operation of th machine, the attendant introduces a pad which may be formed of curled hair, for example, to the feed roll l4 and through the rotation of this roll the pad is fed continuously along the inclined bottom l8 and in this Way is immersed in the liquid 18. As the pad leaves roll l4 it passes over rolls 20 and thence onwardly and upwardly from the body of thev liquid and onto rolls l3. Each of rolls 20 are driven by the driving mechanism and in addition to guiding the pad out of the liquid serves to propel them onward. It may be observed that each of rolls I4 and 20 are either immersed in the coating liquid or have portions of their surfaces under the level of the liquid. Thus the rolls are kept constantly in a wetted condition and so do not accumulate quantities of congealed material.

After passing out of the liquid and onto rolls [3 the pads will drain as they pass along the conveyor, and the drainage liquid falls down onto rolls i3 and is passed into the pan sections 24, 25 and 26. As before explained the liquid thus draining out into these sections will overflow and pass back into the receptacles [6. The drainage liquid is prevented from congealing on the rolls I3 through the constant washing and wetting of these rolls since the level of the liquid is always maintained above the bottom surface of the rolls. Were it not for this feature the use of latex, for example, as a coating liquid would cause a balling up or accumulation of congealed rubber on the rolls which would be both wasteful of material and objectionable from an operating standpoint.

Passing along the conveyor the pads are sufficiently drained and when they reach the position we have designated as first, they pass under the hood 43 and are subjected to a warm current of air directed at their top surfaces. This serves to accelerate greatly the drying of at least the top portion of the pad.

Then when a pad reaches the second position, it interrupts the beam of light focussed on the photoelectric cell 56 and so causes motor 55 to rotate causing the arm 53 to rotate one revolution. As this happens the arm is depressed, turning the rod 41 and causing the arms 48 to pitch the pad over in the manner illustrated by dotted lines in Figure 6. In this way the pad is inverted and passes on its way along the conveyor.

When the pad reaches the third position it passes beneath hood 34 and is here subjected to a blast of warm air which serves to accelerate drying of the other portion.

Passing onwardly from hood 44 the pad approaches a fourth position at the end of the conveyor and at its edges contacts the inwardly inclined guides 65 and 66. The action of the guides is to reduce the width of the pads especially where the material happens to be abnormally wide or has been spread through any cause. Then as the pads pass between the rollers BI and 62 they are formed in the other direction and any irregularity in thickness caused by the action of guides 65 and 66 or through any other cause is largely eliminated. Also, where the disks 6'! are provided the edges are creased. I

After passing through the machine and so receiving a coating of liquid rubber dispersion such as latex composition, etc., the pads may be vulcanized by subjecting them to aheat treatment of the usual type.

The prepared pads resulting from the treatment described are found to be uniform in character and in size, the coating on the fibers being substantially the same throughout the production.

While in the foregoing detailed description the invention has been set forth only in connection with a single specific embodiment, it is evident that the invention could be utilized in any number of specific ways and .it is not intended that the specific description hereincontained be taken in a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for preparing upholstery pads comprising a receptacle adapted to contain a liquid dispersion of rubber, means for passing a fibrous pad in a continuous motion through said liquid dispersion to coat the fibers thereof, means for conveying a pad from said first mentioned means and for carrying it in continuous motion permitting draining of surplus liquid from the pad, said means including a conveyor having a plurality of rolls, and means for maintaining said rolls in a wetted condition.

2. Apparatus for preparing upholstery pads comprising a receptacle adapted to contain a liquid dispersion of rubber, means for passing a fibrous pad in a continuous motion through said liquid dispersion to coat the fibers thereof, means for conveying a pad from said first mentioned means and for carrying it in continuous motion permitting draining of surplus liquid from the pad, said means including a conveyor having a plurality of rolls, and means for maintaining a body of liquid in contact with said rolls whereby any surplus liquid dispersion draining onto said rolls is prevented from drying on the rolls.

3. Apparatus for preparing upholstery pads comprising a continuously moving conveyor, said conveyor including a plurality of rolls, a receptacle adapted to contain a liquid dispersion of rubber, means including a feed roll for passing fibrous pads through said liquid dispersionand onto said conveyor, means for directing a current of air against said pad as it passes a first position along said conveyor, means for automatically inverting said pad when it reaches a second position along said conveyor, and means for directing a current of air against said inverted pad when it has reached a third position along said conveyor.

4. Apparatus for preparing upholstery pads comprising a continuously moving conveyor which includes a plurality of rolls, a receptacle at one end of said conveyor adapted to contain a coating liquid, means including a, feed roll for passing fibrous pads through said liquid and onto said rolls, means for draining and drying said pad as it passes along the conveyor, a pair of rolls at the other end of said conveyor and adapted to receive said pad for shaping and forming the same, and driving mechanism for actuating said feed rolls,

the rolls of said conveyor and said pair of rolls.

5. Apparatus for preparing upholstery pads comprising a continuously moving conveyor which includes a plurality of rolls, a receptacle at one end of said conveyor adapted to contain coating liquid, said receptacle havins an inclined bottom at its one end, a feed .roll spaced from said inclined bottom and adapted to propel fibrous pads along said inclined bottom to immerse the pad in said liquid, and means for guiding the immersed pad from said liquid onto said conveyor.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 in which said means includes a plurality of rolls rotatable below the surface of the liquid contained in said receptacle.

7. An apparatus of the character set forth, means for dipping fibrous pads in liquid adhesive, a conveyor adapted to receive and convey dipped pads during the draining and drying thereof, inclined forming means adapted to confine the edges of said pads to a uniform width, and a pair of rolls for receiving said coated pads from said conveyor and for confining the top and bottom surfaces thereof to a uniform thickness.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim '1 in which said rolls are equipped with annular disks for imparting creases to the formed pads.

9. An apparatus of the character set forth, a conveyor including a plurality of rolls for carrying dipped pads thereon, a receptacle adapted to contain a clipping fluid, means for passing a pad through the dipping liquid in said receptacle and for discharging the dipped pad onto said conveyor, a container beneath a first section of said conveyor and adapted to contain dippi liquid to a levelsuch that the liquid contacts the lower edges of the conveyor rolls of said first section, drainage means whereby excess liquid in said container may drain back to said first mentioned receptacle, a second container disposed beneath the rolls of another section of said conveyorand adapted to contain a second liquid to a level such that second liquid contacts rolls of the conveyor to maintain the same in a wetted condition.

10. Apparatus for preparing upholstery pads comprising a receptacle adapted to contain a coating liquid, guide means for conducting a pad into said liquid, said means including an inclined surface, and a feed roll above said surface and spaced therefrom, means for actuating said roll so as to propel a pad between said roll and said surface, and a series of rolls positioned to receive the immersed pad thereon when the pad leaves said feed roll, said series of rolls being adapted to convey said immersed pad from said liquid.

11. Apparatus for preparing upholstery pads comprising a receptacle adapted to contain a coating liquid, guide means for conducting a pad into said liquid, said means including a stationary inclined surface sloping downwardly and inwardly of the receptacle, a feed roll above said surface and spaced therefrom a distance slightly less than the thickness of the pads to be coated, means for actuating said roll so as to propel a pad between said roll and said surface, and means for conveying the immersed pad out of said receptacle.

1:. Apparatus for preparing upholstery pads comprising a receptacle adapted to contain a coating liquid, guide means for conducting a pad into said liquid, said means including a stationary inclined surface sloping downwardly and inwardly of the receptacle, a feed roll above said surface and spaced therefrom, and means for actuating said roll so as to propel a pad between said roll and said surface.

13. Apparatus for preparing upholstery pads comprising a continuously moving conveyor, said conveyor including a plurality of rolls, a receptacle adapted to contain a liquid dispersion of rubber, means including a feed roll for passing a fibrous pad through said liquid dispersion and onto said conveyor, means intermediate the ends of the conveyor to invert a pad thereon and means" for directing a current of air against said pad at spaced points on opposite sides of the inverting means along said conveyor.

14. Apparatus of the character set forth comprising a means for coating a fibrous pad with liquid, and means for draining and drying the coated pad, said means including a conveyor and means for inverting said pad on said conveyor.

15. Apparatus of the character set forth comprising: means for coating a fibrous pad with liquid; and means for draining and drying the coated pad, said draining, and drying means including a plurality of rolls adapted to receive the coated pad, and including also a turnable rack having its receiving surface positioned below the top of said rolls so as to receive the pad passing along the tops of said rolls, and including also means automatically operable when a pad has reached a position above said rack to turn said rack and thereby invert the pad.

16. Apparatus as set forth in claim 15 in which said last-mentioned means comprises control mechanism including a light sensitive cell.

17. Apparatus for preparing fibrous pads comprising a. receptacle adapted to contain a coating liquid, means for passing a fibrous pad into the liquid in the receptacle, means for removing the pad from the receptacle, a conveyor extending beyond the receptacle to receive and carry pads from the receptacle, the conveyor including a plurality of substantially horizontal rollers on which the pad is carried, a container below the conveyor rollers adapted to contain liquid at a level above the bottoms of the rolls to maintain the rolls wetted, and means to discharge heated air onto the upper surface of the pads at a point spaced from the receptacle. I

18. Apparatus for preparing fibrous pads comprising a receptacle adapted to contain a coating liquid, means for passing a fibrous pad into the liquid in the receptacle, means for removing the pad from the .receptacle, a conveyor extending beyond the receptacle to receive and carry pads from the receptacle, the conveyor including a plurality of substantially horizontal rollers on which the pad is carried, means on the conveyor spaced from the receptacle to invert pads on the conveyor, a container below the conveyor rollers adjacent the receptacle to contain the coating liquid at a level above the bottoms of the rolls, and a. container below the rolls beyond the inverting means to contain a second liquid at a level above the'bottoms of the rolls whereby the last named rolls will be maintained wetted with the second liquid.

19. Apparatus for preparing fibrous pads comprising a receptacle adapted to contain a coating liquid, means for passing a fibrous pad into the liquid in the receptacle, means for removing the pad from the receptacle, a conveyor extending beyond the receptacle to receive and carry pads from the receptacle, the conveyor including a plurality of substantially horizontal rollers on which the pad is carried, means on the conveyor spaced from the receptacle to invert pads the second liquid, and means to blow air over the upper surfaces of the node on opposite sides of the inverting means.

I ALBERT M. SMITH.

ROBIRT W. BETH. ALBERT H. ZEIGLER. 

